Jan 24, 2008

I'm investigating what rights American and English companies have in the increasing global marketplace regarding copyrights and trademarks.

Relating to this topic, I just came across this quotation today, and had to share it with you:

What is going to happen when China makes the full leap to playing on the Internet and competing with American, English, Australian, and Indian ideas? China does not have the ethic or moral that "stealing" ideas is wrong (not that all American, English, Australian, or Indian's do, either) but certainly there is a looming concern about what happens to intellectual property when there is no respect for it?

“China’s failure to police intellectual property, in effect, creates a massive global subsidy worth hundreds of billions of dollars to its business and people. Seen another way, China’s vast counterfeiting schemes act on the rest of the world the way colonial armies once did, invading deep into the economies of their victims, expropriating their most valued assets, and in so doing, undermining their victims’ ability to counter. As China grows into a great power, the wealth transferred into the country by stealing intellectual property will propel it forward.” - China, Inc., Ted C. Fishman

Personally, I've already had an audio program pirated by unscrupulous individuals in Malaysia. It happens to big companies and individuals. Make sure you take the steps you need to take to safeguard your intellectual property. As the world flattens and everyone in all countries are sharing with each other in this "small world" that we are progressively living in, it is important that you nurture, grow, and protect the ideas that propel your business success.

Here's a couple of resources for you to better understand international trademark and copyright law and your rights, which I provide for your entertainment purposes: